I had my lapband surgery in January 2008, lost about 70 pounds, but have since gained it all back. I'd like to start over with it ... definitely still have restriction ... is it realistic to think I could do just the protein shakes for awhile (a few weeks) to get back on track?

The longest I've ever been able to do a liquid diet post-banding was like a week. Sometimes I consider doing one, but I often find that it back fires and I end up eating more than I really want to. But I have binge eating issues. If you don't and are easily able to control what you eat, you may be fine with that.

If I were you, I'd probably start by logging food (I log online at fitday.com) - every single thing that goes in your mouth, and I would start exercising. Set a realistic goal for yourself (like 1200 calories a day, and 4 days a week of exercise). I gained 50 pounds back and that is what I did. I "restarted" in September getting back on track and have since lost all that I had regained plus more.

Good for you for getting back on track!

I also have the band in January 2008 and have re-gained 40 of the 90 I had originally lost. I "started over" last week. I went back to the basics of the lapband and am taking it one day at a time. I also joined WW with my husband which encourages us to track every single bite.

We can do this!

Take a deep breath and start fresh with positive thinking!

Yes you can absolutely start over again. This time you will have the benefit of knowing what your body wants/needs to be successful. Dont beat yourself up over the past. You cant change it. But you CAN change the future.

Best ofl luck.

I just like you am starting over... I am a year and a half out and I am only down about 50lbs.. I havent gained any back but I did have some issues with my band, they thought they had more ccs in my bend then was there. Since I didnt know what restriction was I had no idea that I did have it till I relized I could eat everything. Any way I now am tight and have restriction! I still struggle on what to eat but Its working. I say never give up! Good luck~~~

I was banded 1/6/08 and lost 100lbs but life got in my way and I regained about 60lbs and last month i started again, starting from scratch and sticking to the basics. I have gotten two fills to get to where I need to be and I feel great. I'm down 15lbs, next is to add some exercise into my days.

Oh, phew! I thought I was the only one. I was banded November 2007, lost about 100 lbs in about a year and a half, and then sort of leveled off, about 30 lbs above goal. I wasn't gaining OR losing for a long time. Then I thought my port had flipped, but when a flouro was done, turned out the band was katty-wampus, and tilted at a weird angle. The surgeon thought there might be some slippage, so he completely unfilled me for a couple of weeks.

Then we started re-filling but even though I was less filled than before, it kept being too tight, so we'd take a little out again. Long story short, I had to make two unscheduled trips up and over the mountains last year to get UNfilled when even drinking Water was painful. After the first time this happened in August, started re-filling again a few weeks later, only to have the same thing happen again. So beginning of November, we decided to just let the band be unfilled for a month or two so everything could settle down.

It wasn't until the end of January [because of snow/ice on the roads] that I finally was able to get back to start re-filling again, the first time again with fluoro to make sure all was ok, which it was. Band looks good, and have had two fills now, back for another next week.

But having no restriction for over two months, while a relief in some ways after the misery of being too tight, also meant a BIG reminder that while the band may be an excellent tool for losing weight, it does NOTHING to cure the obesity, or the compulsive eating, or whatever you want to call what got me to 280 lbs in the first place. Oooooof.

At first when I was unfilled, I still ate small amounts, maybe from habit, but very slowly that Always Hungry part of me started to come awake, and I slowly started eating a little more. I've gained about 20 lbs, and have noticed those "I'll never get enough food!" feelings creeping back a bit. I do feel as though I need to start over in some ways, at least as far as my mind-set is concerned. I have been able to eat pretty much anything I want, except in smaller amounts, before all this happened. But eating unrestricted seems to have triggered all the old thinking. Sigh. At nearly 65, it's really annoying to have to "reboot" the whole process. But I am hopeful. Wish us all luck! We did it before, we can do it again.......Diane

I was so relieved to find this thread as I too, am struggling mightily. After being overfilled, slips, hiatal hernia problems, I was unfilled then had repair surgery...short version. The bottom line is that I am experiencing everything you all are....after being unfilled for 5 months and slooow refilling, I am up over 20 pounds and feel horrible, food is constantly calling me and I am back mentally to where I was 2 years ago as far as wanting to eat all kinds of slider food. I hope you all keep posting your struggles and journey back. The only thing that I haven't back slid on is exercise..I have a trainer 3 days a week and do the tradmill for several hours on Sunday. She has been my saving grace.

Mimi

I was banded last September so I found reading this thread reassuring on one hand but depressing on the other. I have battled to find restriction and so battled with portion control and self control!!!

Hey Bunny7 - don't lose heart - I've taken a lot longer than most on here to lose my weight - I started with a BMI of 52 and am now down to 29.... 65kgs lost, but it has taken me 3 & a half years - what most would have probably done in 2, however I am still proud of each and every one of those kilos being gone. Just remember that each kilo is a step in the right direction and no journey is always straight - one step forward, two steps back, then you'll take 10 forward and only 2 back - in the long run, you WILL get there!

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Absolutely: don't despair or give up! This has been an amazing and very interesting journey....I may have 15-20 lbs to "re-lose" [and still 25 or so more to get to goal] but I still consider my weight loss a huge success overall.

For me, the first year was the quickest and most weight loss, then more gradual after that. Before the surgery, I read and researched a LOT, and so I felt pretty prepared. One of the "downers" [at least I thought so at the time, but it so was not a downer, in the long run] of what I read was that one book talked about "success" with a lap band being a loss of 50% of the excess weight. Well, phooey, I thought, when I figured that out, being then at 280 lbs with a goal of 150, or a hopeful loss of 130 lbs. [which seemed insurmountable at the time....I was convinced that I would be the one person in the world for whom this surgery wouldn't work].

So, 50% of 130 would be a loss of 65 lbs, and this particular bariatric center writing the book would think I was a success, and anything else would be gravy [always with the food images, of course.] Big Whoop.

But when I actually HAD lost that 65 lbs I was amazed that it was such a huge difference, physically, mentally, in all ways. While I certainly wanted to lose more, some part of me also knew that yes, this WAS a success, and that if for some reason that was it for the weight loss, I could live with it, and feel good about it. [And then I gradually just kept losing weight, which was of course very satisfying, regardless of what I just said!]

Sometimes, especially in that first year, I felt as though learning to live with my LapBand was like learning to live with an infant, who quickly became a cranky toddler, who could be sweet as could be at times and an unpredictable demon at other times. I had to learn to figure out the subtle signals [to avoid the temper tantrums], couldn't imagine how this could POSSIBLY make me throw up, when yesterday I ate that just fine, and so on. And just like with a child, might love him/her dearly, but some days leaving that wee beastie on someone else's doorstep seemed like a good idea. :wub:

Portions: ha! It took forever to figure out, and BELIEVE, that that itty bitty thing on my plate would be ENOUGH, certainly I needed to fix TWO hamburgers, plus fries, that's what my mind told me, even if yesterday I could only eat less than a half of one, and had felt full and satisfied. Talk about a learning curve: sometimes it was a steep one, and sometimes it was flat, and sometimes I didn't seem to be learning a darned thing. :mad3:

It took a while to realize that this wasn't going to be a finite project, with surgery done, lose weight, then forget about it and on with life. It continues to be a day to day process, just like living with a child. A pain at times, but so worth it in the long run. [And it is soooooo nice to be able to buy clothes without any X's in the size!].......Diane

Hey Bunny7 - don't lose heart - I've taken a lot longer than most on here to lose my weight - I started with a BMI of 52 and am now down to 29.... 65kgs lost, but it has taken me 3 & a half years - what most would have probably done in 2, however I am still proud of each and every one of those kilos being gone. Just remember that each kilo is a step in the right direction and no journey is always straight - one step forward, two steps back, then you'll take 10 forward and only 2 back - in the long run, you WILL get there!

Hi there and thank you for your huge encouragement - brought tears to my eyes!!! I really salute you for your perserverence and the hope that you bring me. You have reminded me that it is a journey and that I'm not a statistic belonging to the group of 'they couldn't do it'. Bless you for your kindness and effort in responding to me....:Angel_anim:

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Absolutely: don't despair or give up! This has been an amazing and very interesting journey....I may have 15-20 lbs to "re-lose" [and still 25 or so more to get to goal] but I still consider my weight loss a huge success overall.

For me, the first year was the quickest and most weight loss, then more gradual after that. Before the surgery, I read and researched a LOT, and so I felt pretty prepared. One of the "downers" [at least I thought so at the time, but it so was not a downer, in the long run] of what I read was that one book talked about "success" with a lap band being a loss of 50% of the excess weight. Well, phooey, I thought, when I figured that out, being then at 280 lbs with a goal of 150, or a hopeful loss of 130 lbs. [which seemed insurmountable at the time....I was convinced that I would be the one person in the world for whom this surgery wouldn't work].

So, 50% of 130 would be a loss of 65 lbs, and this particular bariatric center writing the book would think I was a success, and anything else would be gravy [always with the food images, of course.] Big Whoop.

But when I actually HAD lost that 65 lbs I was amazed that it was such a huge difference, physically, mentally, in all ways. While I certainly wanted to lose more, some part of me also knew that yes, this WAS a success, and that if for some reason that was it for the weight loss, I could live with it, and feel good about it. [And then I gradually just kept losing weight, which was of course very satisfying, regardless of what I just said!]

Sometimes, especially in that first year, I felt as though learning to live with my LapBand was like learning to live with an infant, who quickly became a cranky toddler, who could be sweet as could be at times and an unpredictable demon at other times. I had to learn to figure out the subtle signals [to avoid the temper tantrums], couldn't imagine how this could POSSIBLY make me throw up, when yesterday I ate that just fine, and so on. And just like with a child, might love him/her dearly, but some days leaving that wee beastie on someone else's doorstep seemed like a good idea. :wub:

Portions: ha! It took forever to figure out, and BELIEVE, that that itty bitty thing on my plate would be ENOUGH, certainly I needed to fix TWO hamburgers, plus fries, that's what my mind told me, even if yesterday I could only eat less than a half of one, and had felt full and satisfied. Talk about a learning curve: sometimes it was a steep one, and sometimes it was flat, and sometimes I didn't seem to be learning a darned thing. :mad3:

It took a while to realize that this wasn't going to be a finite project, with surgery done, lose weight, then forget about it and on with life. It continues to be a day to day process, just like living with a child. A pain at times, but so worth it in the long run. [And it is soooooo nice to be able to buy clothes without any X's in the size!].......Diane

Thanks so much Diane - I so enjoyed reading your post and how honest and open you were. I related on all sorts of levels and your child picture hit a cord for me too.... so right! Sometimes I;ve felt like just ripping the thing out and saying 'I'm over this!!!" The hard thing is I have a dear friend who had this done a year ago and seemed to cruise through it losing most of her weight in 9 months. Seeing her success helped me make my decision but our journeys couldn't have been more different. Also she was afraid of putting me off so never shared any of her struggles. I had a totally over optimistic outlook despite masses of research on the web prior to the decision. It never really prepared me for the uncertainty, bewilderment, confusion and utter frustration of not feeling what my friend told me to feel for.... She kept on saying 'Listen to your body and it will tell you when to stop" :sigh: - my body is mostly silent = the rebellious pizza incident of last week. My attempt and seeing if anything would happen ... still waiting. Only thing that happened was a weight gain. Haven't done that again though as I'm aware of band erosion and slippage. Do you have support groups there and if so did you use them and did they help?.... Bunny / Des

Diane: Thank you so much for sharing. Finally, someone who is going through and feeling the exact way I am. If I didnt know better, I would swear you are inside my head.

I was banded April 2008, and to date I have lost 168 pounds (pre- band I was 363). The last year or so has been quite a struggle for me. I am 50 pounds away from my goal weight, and I just cant seem to get motivated again. I see old habits creeping back in slowly, and I dont want to excercise either. I havent drank soda since 2007, and in the last month I have had soda quite a few times. I know I am not supposed to drink it, so why am I? Today I had to have an upper GI done, I have been having some bad heartburn/gerd for the last 6 months or so. My family Dr said it would be a good idea to check it out and make sure all is well with my band and what not. Well... the Radiologist says that I have a hiatal hernia and he thinks my band is too tight. Oddly I wasnt surprised about his thought on my band being too tight, I thought that might be the reason as well. The surprise was the hital hernia, Ive never had one.

I feel like it is all my fault. If I had just done something sooner, maybe I wouldnt have the hernia. Anyway I wanted to know how you keep yourself motivated. I need some words of wisdom, or maybe just a good swift kick in the butt. Thanks for sharing your story, Im happy to know there is someone else out there fighting the same war I am.

Best of Luck to you!

Alli

I was banded May 2008. I lost about 50 lbs (only half of my goal) and then gained about half of this back. I am back on track. I decided not to get filled. I got back on track and decided to join WW. I joined mid-January and I am down about 14 lbs. I soon realized that I was eating too many carbs and needed to follow a modified version of WW but I am determined to reach my final goal of 100 lbs lost from my beginning weight. Let's all keep in touch.

I am so glad that I came across this post today.... I also need to take accountability. I was banded in March 2008 and I lost over 100 lbs with the help of the lapband. However, I moved out of state and needed to get all of my fill removed to be seen by a new Doctor for fills... needless to say I have gained back almost all of my weight in about a year. I went in for a fill today and I have got to get back on the bandwagon!! I want to get back to where I was and I need to start following the all of the rules, all of the time... not just when it is convenient for me!